Neglected Gifts
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. Romans 12:4-7

I found myself in a valley… not from despair, but rather I had lost my direction for the future. God had placed us in that place, but I didn’t understand why. I had dedicated years to pastoral care and visitation ministry. There in that place, that wasn’t possible. In the the previous thirteen relocations in our twenty-six years of marriage, God had always directed me into some kind of ministry relating to pastoral care.

It was during my morning prayer time that God revealed to me, though his word, that my future was in his hands but his gift to me had been neglected. My first reaction was to plead unfairness; that my pastoral ministry was over… or at least on hold. Then he gave me a vision; a little girl standing before her beloved grandmother sitting in an old rocking chair. This lady was presenting the child with a gift wrapped in silver paper and a large red bow. The child smiled brightly in anticipation, but in suddenly as if in terror, the child drew back and cried. “Why are you giving me this? I don’t want it,” and with that, the little girl ran from the room, throwing the precious gift out an open window. The grandmother’s eyes became moist and her face shrouded with sadness.

“Who is this child?” I asked my Lord.

My Jesus answered in a still small voice. “Just as this little girl rejected her grandmother’s treasured gift, so you too have rejected the gift I’ve given you and in the same way, you tossed it aside as if it were of no significance. Child you wounded my heart.”

“Yes, it’s true,” I admitted. “I’ve protested and convinced myself I was incapable and no longer able to accept this gift from you… Forgive me Lord.”

The gifts God has given us are often disregarded, for one reason or another. Even through our sickness and pain, there’s still a way we can share our gifts.

Writing became my new love; a way I could still touch peoples’ lives. Through experience and training, I can still use my gift to his glory.

Chrissy Siggee is the author of 'Glimpses of His Glory', a collection of her poetry, devotions, pencil illustrations and nature photos. - SORRY - SOLD OUT!
Chrissy is also the author of the teen novel 'Out of the Shadows - Jenna's Secret.' http://chrissysiggee.com/shadows/